Cottaging
- This article is on the sexual behavior. For other uses, see Cottage (disambiguation)
Cottaging is a form of sexual behavior aimed at having sex in a public lavatory (a cottage) or of 'cruising' for sex or 'picking-up' a stranger in a public lavatory with the intention of having sex elsewhere. The term 'cottage' is predominantly British, a 'cottage' being a small, typically single-storey cosy countryside home, though it is occasionally used in other parts of the world. In America lavatories used for this purpose are sometimes called 'tea rooms'. The term 'cottaging' has largely fallen into disuse, and this usage of 'tea room' is somewhat obscure and mostly reserved for use by individuals involved in the 'tea room trade.'
Cottaging is more common among gay and bisexual men than among lesbians or heterosexuals, in part because mixed-gender lavatories are uncommon, but the term can apply to the actions of people of all sexes and sexual orientations.
In most jurisdictions the act of cottaging itself is not against the law, though related charges of gross indecency and indecent exposure may be brought, especially if the two people caught in the act are both men. George Michael was prosecuted in Los Angeles when his potential cottaging partner turned out to be a plainclothes police officer. (Pee Wee Herman, also known as Paul Reubens was detrimentally exposed in somewhat similar circumstances, though this was in an adult movie theater and not a restroom.) In many of the cases where people are brought to court for cottaging, the issue of entrapment arises, since law enforcement officers generally are not supposed to encourage people to engage in criminal activity, yet most cottagers are reluctant to engage in prosecutable actions when they do not believe that their partner(s) will appreciate this.